Wayne E. Lee
@milhistlee.bsky.social
3.7K followers 620 following 300 posts
World military historian at UNC. Veteran. Archaeologist. Blacksmith. Traveler. Archer. I try to limit my posts to military history/security policy. Mostly. Current President of the Soc. for Military History. Officially here: https://waynelee.web.unc.edu/
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milhistlee.bsky.social
I'm honored to announce that The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500-1800 has been award this year's Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award.

Many thanks to my editor Debbie Gershenowitz who took a chance on this one.

uncpress.org/book/9781469...
The Cutting-Off Way | Wayne E. Lee | University of North Carolina Press
Incorporating archeology, anthropology, cartography, and Indigenous studies into military history, Wayne E. Lee has argued throughout his distinguished caree...
uncpress.org
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
milhistlee.bsky.social
Hey Military Historians, esp Grad students! The SMH is announcing its 2026 Summer Seminar in Military history, hosted by the Adams Center at VMI. This is a fabulous opportunity to learn the field outside your specialty, to network, and enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains. www.smh-hq.org/summersemina...
Summer Seminar | The Society for Military History
www.smh-hq.org
milhistlee.bsky.social
It's a related problem, but there were more controls, and there was accountability. Also, whether you like it or not, it's a long established international norm that deniability matters in covert ops. We're not denying. We're trumpeting.
milhistlee.bsky.social
I say again. There is no AUMF; there is no imminence. These are illegal strikes.
Just as were "signature" strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.
We fucking opened these doors then, and now even dumber people with worse rationale are walking through them.
jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Don’t believe anyone who tells you that intelligence shows anything “without a doubt,” but even if the intelligence was water-tight, this strike was still murder. No law permits the deliberate, premeditated killing of civilians.
milhistlee.bsky.social
Hegseth vision of military he wants is built on short, tactical-level service record, playing Call of Duty, & tattoo portfolio browsing. Fails to see complexity of modern fires, intel, coalition coop, and above all, logistics. He is an LT, gripping a challenge coin, telling his betters he knows best
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
chowleen.bsky.social
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe
www.chosun.com
milhistlee.bsky.social
The toddler regime slouches on...
atrupar.com
Reminder that Trump's initial rationale for sending the troops in Portland was something he saw on TV
atrupar.com
Trump threatens to deploy the National Guard to Portland, citing something he saw on TV last night
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
thehistoryguy.bsky.social
Today in 1983 Stanislav Petrov saved the human race.

On duty at the Soviet early warning command centre, he refused to warn superiors of radar reports of an incoming US strike. It proved to be a false alarm. If the Soviets had responded it would have been all out nuclear war.
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
jeremywallace.bsky.social
Nothing for California or North Carolina after natural disasters, instead Trump is sending money to a long-haired libertarian in Argentina who already blew through $20 billion from the IMF.
milhistlee.bsky.social
I'm reading a student's diss draft in which US Cold War senior leaders referred to Lat American countries (and leaders) as immature and excitable and "like children."

I wonder what those same Americans would think of our current administration. 🤡
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
proptermalone.bsky.social
looks single from the bio and Presbyterians can get out there, Chicago ladies/gentlemen
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
gavinyamey.bsky.social
Medical ethicist Arthur Kaplan, quoted in the NYT:

“The announcement on autism was the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recyling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies & dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science”
gavinyamey.bsky.social
This MAGA/MAHA/Trump/RFK Jr/Dr Oz/Dr Bhattacharya press conference right now is quite possibly the worst press conference—from the viewpoints of medicine, public health, & medical ethics—that I’ve ever seen. These men are so shameless & deeply irresponsible. Wherever happened to science & evidence?
milhistlee.bsky.social
Disney stock price last 5 days. Pour it on.
milhistlee.bsky.social
This post has now been deleted. Suggesting it really was a DM to Bondi, violating presidential Records Act, and basically all national security protocols. But who cares. All the laws are for trampling now.
kyledcheney.bsky.social
Trump criticizes Pam Bondi for not charging his adversaries quickly enough, in a Truth Social post that looks a lot like a DM. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...
milhistlee.bsky.social
Joining in boycotting ABC/Disney. Dropping my Disney subscription.
(they'll soon discover that appeasing authoritarians just makes them demand more)
#boycottDisney
#boycottABC
milhistlee.bsky.social
Talk to me again about "liberal" cancel culture.
milhistlee.bsky.social
When the US conducted drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, the legal authorities were dubious and initially covert. I did not like it then. These strikes are NOT covert. POTUS is bragging on them. If you can brag, you can tell us the legal authority used for the strike. This is a crime otherwise.
milhistlee.bsky.social
Anyone apologizing for this admin is probably not long for his job.
bloomberg.com
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau expressed regret on Sunday over the recent detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in Georgia and said those who returned home will face no disadvantage when re-entering the US
US Official Offers Regrets Over Detention of South Koreans
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Sunday expressed regret over the recent detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in Georgia.
bloom.bg
milhistlee.bsky.social
In addition to my just-now post on prison conditions, this is also true. Why would any foreign firm now gamble in a US location?
jonwalkerpdx.bsky.social
It should be way bigger news that Trump effectively killed any attempt by foreign countries to build new factories in the United States with this idiotic ICE move. Just incalculable long term damage.
Trump just killed his "build America" push www.wsj.com/world/asia/c...
Confusion, Anger, Relief: Korean Engineer Tells of Week in U.S. ICE Detention
More than 300 employees at a Hyundai battery plant returned home after being detained in a Georgia immigration raid.
www.wsj.com
milhistlee.bsky.social
This is a consequence of the built-in unaccountability of ICE. It is non transparent and resistant to oversight. It is massively made worse by current leadership, but the structural problem was already there.
sharonk.bsky.social
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.
Reposted by Wayne E. Lee
manigarm.bsky.social
Here you go, Republicans. Here's your shooter. A 22-year-old white man from Utah.

Born and raised in a conservative Christian household that loved guns and Trump. Dad's a former sheriff. Radicalized online into gaming meme culture and who carved video game lines and 4-chan quotes into the bullets.
A photo of Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old white man, standing in his dorm room smiling.
milhistlee.bsky.social
Calling a drug smuggling boat an imminent threat to the US is stretching the language way past the breaking point. The Military should have refused this order as illegal. But the generals don't have JAGs any more to advise them.